Similar to granite, quartz is abundant it is the most common mineral in the Earth’s crust. It can be found in many igneous rocks such as sandstones as well as sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. There is a lot of heat and water where the crystals are formed they are produced when the quartz cools down and the way the crystal looks depends on how hot it was when it was formed.

Most of the time quartz is obtained through surface mining. A backhoe is used to remove the dirt and rock that is covering the vein, only the larger mines tend to use heavy machinery all the time. Miners might use explosives but they will try to use as little as possible to get the job done, they do not want to take the chance to ruin the quartz. Once the vein is uncovered everything slows down so that the heavy machinery will not damage the quartz. The miners will start to work by hand and use picks, chisels and dentist tools to get to the quartz. Once excavated the quartz is then wrapped in old newspapers and placed in a box to be taken away for cleaning. It is usually mine din Brazil and United States of America.

Quartz are used to make many things such as in radios, as crystal gems, sandpaper, soap, prisms, glass, paints, watches, computers also for radar, radios and Televisions since it conducts electricity and in the larger scale structures that you see in the quartz worktops in your kitchen. The commercial production of quartz has been key in the development of the modern science of crystallography, which is basically the way that atoms arrange themselves in a solid material.

This synthetic manufacturing process means that suppliers and customers are able to have a lot more control and options over the finished product, with the way the size, shape, colour and finish of the worktop looks. Pure quartz is transparent and colourless. Other impurities are added in to it during the process to alter the way that the quartz forms, giving a wide range of patterns and choices.

Quartz worktops may not have the hardness or durability of granite, but the advantages concluded by the well-established commercial production processes mean that it is the adopted choice when designing a kitchen. The simplicity as well can make a quartz worktop an attractive choice.